


To The Next Year

by SpicedGold



Series: The Nara Family [20]
Category: Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, Naruto
Genre: Completely pointless and plotless, Gen, new years fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-08
Updated: 2020-05-08
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:02:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,938
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24077944
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpicedGold/pseuds/SpicedGold
Summary: Shikamaru is not expecting any calls while he’s inside the Hokage’s office, but he’s very, very glad he bothered to answer the phone.
Relationships: Nara Shikamaru/Temari
Series: The Nara Family [20]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1160966
Comments: 15
Kudos: 218





	To The Next Year

**Author's Note:**

> I don't like to think of myself as being five months late to finish a New Years fic, but rather seven months early.

Occasionally, Shikamaru could hear loud cheers or shouting in the distance, just little muted exclamations of a village in celebration.

He sat at Naruto’s desk in the Hokage’s office, patiently going through the stacks of paper that Naruto was behind on.

Shikamaru had no desire to be out there with the rest of the village. He was quite happy sitting in the silent office, losing himself in mindless paperwork, so he could just let the night pass him by.

It was New Year’s Eve, and he was alone.

Well, he could have been anywhere he wanted. Chouji had invited him out. Ino had, as well. As had several other people.

But Temari was away, and she was the only person he wanted to spend time with. He didn’t like parties, and he didn’t like pretending to have fun when she wasn’t there with him. Because nothing was fun without her. And he had whined about that before she left, only to have her roll her eyes and point out that she kind of had a job and had to go.

He still had two more days until she was home.

He sighed, pushing the papers around the desk. It was almost eleven thirty. In half an hour he could have a beer and call it a night. Or a year, whatever.

Shikamaru nearly leapt out of his skin as the phone rang. He blinked at it dumbly for a moment, wondering who on earth was calling the Hokage’s office at eleven thirty on New Year’s Eve. He considered not answering it, but his sense of duty finally won out.

“Hokage’s office,” he answered dismissively.

“Why are you still at the office?”

Instantly, Shikamaru felt himself relax, and melt further into his chair, whole body flooding with calm. “Temari. Why are you calling?”

“To check you weren’t still at the office. Why aren’t you out with friends?”

“Eh,” he shrugged. “Told Naruto I had nowhere better to be so I’d do some work and he could spend the evening with his family.”

“Last I checked you had a son. Where is he?”

“I have no idea,” Shikamaru admitted. “He and Inojin ran off somewhere – didn’t tell me where – but I figure if it’s anywhere interesting I’ll hear about it tomorrow when I get a bill for damages.”

He heard Temari chuckle, and couldn’t help the smile that spread across his face.

He shuffled the papers he had been working on into a more orderly pile. “Shouldn’t you be at a fancy banquet schmoozing with the elite?”

“I am. I’m allowed to take a break.”

“How is it?”

“Pretty boring. Mostly just people talking about their affairs.”

“Huh. Must be boring then. You haven’t had an affair.” Shikamaru absently spun the pen on the desk. When it spun out of control and fell to the floor, he made no move to pick it up.

“That you know of.”

Shikamaru smiled, rubbing a hand across his eyes.

“I mean, that’s the whole point of an affair, isn’t it?” Temari teased. “That the husband doesn’t know.”

“Okay, well, then, shouldn’t you be off having an affair? There’s a lot of rich men there.”

“Yeah,” Temari said slowly. “But I’m more into smart guys.”

“Really? What kind of smart guys?”

“The kind that don’t do the dishes when you ask, and have no idea where their son is.”

“Shikadai is fine,” Shikamaru said casually. “How much trouble can he and Inojin get up to?”

“I know how much trouble Kankuro and I could get up to in a night.”

“Sounds like you’re still getting into trouble. How many rich men have you flirted with?”

“None, but I got asked on a date after a meeting.”

“. . . You did mention you were married, right?”

“No,” Shikamaru could practically _hear_ Temari roll her eyes, and he loved that he knew her well enough to notice it. “We had a lovely dinner and planned the rest of our lives together. _Of course I told him I was married_. I use you as an excuse all the time.”

“You do?” Shikamaru sounded surprised, but at the same time felt a possessive flare of warmth in his chest.

“Well, yes. I get out of a lot of things by mentioning that my husband can’t function without me and I need to get home to check he’s still alive. Maybe find out where my son has wandered off to at the same time.”

“He’s eleven, Tem, he’s hardly destroying the village.”

“You and I led very different lives at eleven.”

“Eh,” Shikamaru shrugged. He spun idly around on the chair, enjoying the silence. It was always companionable when he knew Temari was on the other end of it.

“Is it cloudy there?” Temari asked.

“No. Clear sky tonight.” Shikamaru paused his spinning to look out the window. The stars were bright overhead.

“Can you see the hunter constellation?”

“Yes.”

“I’m looking at it, too.”

Shikamaru stared out the window, ignoring the various noises from the village below in favour of seeking out the group of stars. They had spent quite a few nights after first getting together naming constellations and making up new ones.

“See the moon?” he asked.

“Yes.”

“You know,” Shikamaru began. “The moon reflects things . . . Maybe if you waved at it, I could see you.”

“It reflects sunlight, you dork.”

He somehow managed to suppress the urge to respond ‘you are my sunlight’, instead adding snidely, “I’m a genius, Tem, so everything I say is right.”

“Ah, good logic.” There was a little pause. “Can you see me waving at the moon?”

“I can see you pulling the finger at the moon,” Shikamaru replied, and was rewarded with a warm laugh that made his heart flutter, and he kind of hated how much he still reacted to her laugh. It made him stupid, and without thinking he blurted out, “I love you.”

“I know. I love you, too. Crybaby.”

Shikamaru wished she was there with him, and he could bury his face in her hair and stop thinking. Life was so much easier with her around – he didn’t need to expend effort on anything. She just made everything work.

“You need to come home soon,” he said, fidgeting the papers around the desk, undoing the neat pile he had just made. “The dishes are starting to pile up.”

“You can wash them, you know.”

“I know. But I’m hoping you’ll get home before I have to.”

He heard Temari sigh. “How urgent is it?”

“I had cereal out of your mug this morning. Shikadai made eggs and ate them out of the pan.”

“You could make Shikadai do the dishes.”

“I could. But I told him I wouldn’t bother him about them if he promised not to mention what time I was waking up in the mornings.”

“In the mornings?”

“. . . In the afternoons.”

“You really get lazy when I’m away, don’t you?” There was a touch of fondness in Temari’s voice.

“You are ninety-nine per cent of my motivation. I don’t know what to do without you.” He kept his tone light, but he knew he was completely serious. He was aimless when she wasn’t around.

“You could wash the dishes.”

“God, I miss you.” He looked at the ceiling. Two more days. Just two more days. He let the silence linger between them. Just knowing she was on the other end of the phone was comforting. He sank into his seat. “Tem.”

“Yes?”

“Thanks for calling.”

“Anytime, crybaby,” she responded warmly.

The next silence was considerably shorter. The village suddenly seemed to come noisily alive.

“Hey,” Shikamaru spun to face the window as a loud cheer erupted. “Happy new year.”

“Happy new year,” Temari replied, in her gentle voice.

There was a moment of soft silence between them, then Temari said, “Remember how we used to do this before I moved to Konoha?”

“Yeah. My phone bill was astronomical.”

“Only because you fell asleep talking to me more than once.”

“Remember one new year when Kankuro climbed through your window and you spent about ten minutes fighting? All I could hear was punches being thrown.” He leant his head back, staring at the ceiling again. “And you guys were so loud you woke Gaara. Then I had all three of you on the phone for new years’.”

“Yeah, I remember. Kankuro kept making kissing noises, and Gaara kept trying to get him to shut up.”

“I think that’s the moment I realized I would be perfectly happy with them as brothers. Before that I wasn’t sure Gaara liked me.”

“And the year Naruto made you come to his party, and you closed yourself in his closet so you could talk to me,” Temari’s voice was light, but there was a tinge of nostalgia behind it.

“And the year after that Ino made me put you on speaker so you could ‘join in’ with the girls’ drinking game.”

“I won.”

“Ino still thinks you cheated.”

“And I’ve subsequently drunk her under the table several times; she really needs to learn to let that go.”

“Ino doesn’t let things go.” Shikamaru smiled fondly. He spun the chair some more. The silence was comforting again, much better than it had been before he answered the phone. He could still hear cheers from outside the window.

“One of my favourite new years,” Shikamaru began. “Was when Kankuro was in Konoha, but you weren’t. And he took me out ‘on a date’. We just talked about you the whole time.”

“He asked if he could borrow a dress for that,” Temari replied. “I told him no.”

“It would have made the night much more interesting,” Shikamaru chuckled. He stopped the chair, staring at the stars again. “Come home.”

“In a few days.”

“Come home now.”

“Shikamaru, I’m about six drinks into the night; I don’t imagine I can navigate very well.” Her tone lost its biting edge, and she added softly, “I’ll be home soon. You can survive without me for a while longer.”

“Can I?” he asked wistfully.

“I know you can.”

Another pause, and he didn’t want to say anything because he knew she would have to go soon.

“Shikamaru.”

“Don’t go.”

“I have to.” She sighed heavily. “I’ve got work to do.”

“It’s a party – it doesn’t need you there constantly.” He worked fast to come up with excuses to keep her talking. “If those foreign dignitaries have lasted this long without you, surely they can manage the rest of the night as well? We can keep talking.”

“I’m not supposed to be out here talking to you at all.”

“Then why did you call?”

“Because I knew you’d be moping around all alone. Go home, go to sleep, and I’ll be back soon.”

“Two days is not soon.”

“It’s only one day now,” she smiled.

And that did make him feel better. “Okay. Okay,” he leant an elbow on the desk, face in his hand. “Go back to your party, if you have to. Remember to tell everyone you’re happily married.”

“Remember to find my son, then.”

“He’ll come home.”

“And so will I.”

Shikamaru smiled vaguely into his palm, closing his eyes. Suddenly he felt very peaceful and very tired. One more day. He could manage one more day.

“Fallen asleep there?” Temari asked teasingly.

“No,” he said, sounding thoroughly unconvincing. “But ‘m about to.”

“Go to bed.”

“I will,” he let out a heavy breath. “. . . Do you have to go?”

“Yes.”

“Okay. Goodnight. I love you.”

“Love you, too. Happy new year.”

“Hm,” he sank a bit further onto the desk. “I guess it was.”


End file.
